A conference on writing and the arts in the tropics, Tropics of the Imagination.

The Cairns Institute in association with the School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook
University, present the second biennial

Tropics of the Imagination
A conference on writing and the arts in the tropics

Monday 31st October – Tuesday 1st November 2011
Rydges Esplanade Resort
Cnr. Kerwin Street & The Esplanade, Cairns, QLD.

Conference Convenor
Associate Professor Stephen Torre, James Cook University.

Conference Organizing Committee:
Professor Hurriyet Babacan, Foundation Director, The Cairns Institute (Chair)
Eve Stafford OAM, Director Savvy Arts
Leslie Sparks, Cultural Services & Facilities Manager, Cairns City Council
Dr Russell Milledge, Lecturer in Creative Arts, JCU
Stephen Torre, Associate Professor of English, JCU
The aims of the conference are:
• To provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of research into writing
and the creative arts in the Tropics;
• To provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of current and past
practice of writing and the creative arts in the Tropics;
• To form a scholarly community for research into writing and the arts in the
Tropics within the Cairns Institute in James Cook University;
• To develop relations between JCU research focus groups and other researchers
and institutions nationally and internationally;
• To provide a forum for building cooperation, collaboration and consultancies
between the JCU scholarly community and relevant individuals, groups, and
creative industries in the North Queensland region.

The conference welcomes papers and presentations from anyone with a professional
interest in imaginative, creative or artistic work, including artists, art‐workers and
administrators, and academics.

We will accept papers on a wide range of topics including the special themes for the 2011
conference:
• Environment as Character
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Sensuality, Sensitivity and Creativity
• Abundance, Wholeness, Well‐Being
• Hidden Tropics: the unspoken, the invisible
• Voices of Place and Habitus

Keynote Speakers:
• Nicolas Rothwell. Nicolas Rothwell was educated in European schools and was a
classical scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, before becoming a foreign
correspondent. He is now the northern correspondent for The Australian newspaper.
His many writings include several books. Wings of the Kite‐Hawk (2003) is a set of
linked journeys into the Australian landscape: its past and its present, its people and
its half‐remembered secrets. Another Country (2007) tells the story of desert
journeys and encounters with mystics and artists, explorers and healers encountered
in travels in Northern and Central Australia . It also gathers together groundbreaking
pieces on Aboriginal art and society, and on Darwin and the lure of the North. The
Red Highway (2009), a fiction set in the far reaches of the continent, is a sequel to
Wings of the Kite‐Hawk. Journeys to the Interior (2010) consist of essays, portraits,
and landscape accounts, with a core series of four explorations: of the story of
literature in the Australian landscape; the relationship between consciousness,
thought and wilderness; fragments and man’s need for coherence, and musical form
in the bush.

• Vilsoni Hereniko. Originally from Rotuma, Professor Hereniko he is the author of
Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma and co‐editor of Inside Out:
Literature, Cultural Politics, and Identity in the New Pacific, as well as numerous
scholarly articles, essays, and plays. He was also the editor of the award‐winning
journal The Contemporary Pacific from 2002‐2008. Many of Hereniko’s plays have
been produced in Oceania, the United States, and England. His feature film The Land
Has Eyes premiered at the Sundance Film Festival followed by screenings at
international and indigenous film festivals around the world as well as the Museum
of Modern Art in New York. An award‐winning teacher, he has taught at the
University of the South Pacific, the University of Washington, and for the University
of Pittsburgh (semester‐at‐sea). He was also a Fellow of Corpus Christi at the
University of Cambridge in England.
• Geraldine Dyer. Dr Dyer is a Psychiatrist with the Remote Area Child & Youth Mental
Health Service in Cairns. She has been experimenting with the use of art in treating
patients in the tropics.
 

Conference Costs
Start: 31 October 2011 (Day One)
End: 1 November 2011. (Day Two ‐ Half day)

Day 1 only: $85.00
Day 1 & 2: $125.00
Day I & 2 Student Price: $100.00
Optional Melbourne Cup Lunch day 2: $45.00
Early bird discount, includes Day 1 & 2 and Melbourne Cup Lunch: $120.00. Early bird cutoff
is 30 September 2011.

All prices include GST.
Click here for online payment: http://alumni.jcu.edu.au/TropImag2011

Accommodation
Accommodation is available at the conference venue, Rydges Esplanade Resort, at a special
price of $119 per room for delegates. When booking please mention that you are a delegate
to the Tropics of the Imagination 2011 conference, and quote the following reference: Block
Code Reference # 678200. Booking should be made directly with Rydges Esplanade Resort.

Contact details:
Rydges Esplanade Resort, Cnr. Kerwin Street & The Esplanade, Cairns, Qld, 4870
Phone 61 7 4044 9000
Fax 61 7 4044 9001
Web www.rydges.com/esplanadecairns

Cairns city and surrounding suburbs and beaches have many suitable hotels and resorts
available for overnight stays, from budget to 4 star. Please see here for other
accommodation listings: http://www.tropicalnorthqueensland.com.au/
Information about Cairns and the Cairns region is available here:
http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/

Public transport: http://www.sunbus.com.au/index.htm

Conference Program
Details will be posted as they come to hand.

Monday 31 Oct
9:00‐9:15am Opening
9:15‐10:15 Morning Session 1 keynote 1
10:15‐11:00 Morning tea
11:00‐12:30 Morning session2 & 3‐concurrent sessions in two rooms
12:30‐1:30 Lunch
1:30‐2:30 Afternoon Session 3 Keynote 2)
2:30‐ 2:45 Afternoon tea
2:45‐4:15 Afternoon Session 4 & 5 ‐concurrent sessions in two rooms
4:15 – 4:30 Short break
4:30 – 6:00 Evening session 6 & 7 if needed‐concurrent sessions in two rooms

Tue 1 Nov
9‐15 ‐ 10:15am Morning session 1 Keynote 3
10:15‐11am Morning tea
11am‐12:30pm Morning session 2‐concurrent sessions in two rooms
12:45 – 2:45pm Conclusion and Conference Melbourne Cup Lunch
Conference Lunch
The Conference Melbourne Cup Lunch will be held on Tuesday 1st November, 12:45 –
2:45pm at Rydges Esplanade Resort. The cost of the Summer Breeze Buffett
(including welcome drink) will be $45 per person, payable with registration. A cash bar will
be available for additional individual purchases of drinks.

Menu
SUMMER BREEZE BUFFET
Welome drink
Freshly baked bread rolls
Plate of continential & cured meats
Chilli mussels with lemon
Chick pea hummus dip
Potato salad with green onions and light grain mustard mayonnaise
Greek salad with kalamata olives and sheep feta
Tossed baby leaf salad with orange vinaigrette
Shrimp and glass noodle salad scented with lemon grass
Lemon baked reef fish, tomato essence and basil
Oven roast chicken, glazed bok choy and tom yum essence
Grilled peppered beef, smoked pepper cream and merlot jus
Steamed and buttered fresh market vegetables
Oven roast gourmet potato with olive oil and fresh herbs
Selection of cakes & slices
Sliced seasonal fruit Salad with fresh cream
Freshly brewed tea & coffee

Inquiries
Please contact the convener Stephen Torre: Tel (07) 4042 1052, Fax (07) 4042 1390, Email
stephen.torre@jcu.edu.au, Skype stephen.torre1

REGISTRATION FORM : (link download)

http://www.4shared.com/document/FDeJrY4y/Registration_Proposal_Form.html